· Last Evenings on Earth, Roberto Bolaño, translated by Chris Andrews & Natasha Wimmer. The first of four Bolaño short story collections I plan on rereading. Struggling and failed writers populate these incredible stories. These are downtrodden exiled characters and there is a continual threat of violence which propels the narratives.

· American Abductions, Mauro Javier Cárdenas. This novel from Ecuador is set in America in the near future but closely resembles the present despite its technological advancements. The novel explores the psychological and physical stress caused by the deportations of Latin Americans living and working in the USA. Frightening but intriguing experimental writing.

· America: The Farewell Tour, Chris Hedges. Hedges nonfiction book examines what he sees as America’s decline with chapters addressing hate, work, freedom, addiction and more. Sober reading providing an interesting analysis of the main culprit, the corporate state.

· Vanishing Point, David Markson. A continuation of Markson’s This is Not a Novel with a deeper focus on impending death. Presented as notes Author has collected on index cards mainly about the challenges of creative life. Looking forward to the final novel.

· Death Takes Me, Christina Rivera Garza, translated by Sarah Booker & Robin Meyers. A literary crime narrative out of Mexico involving gendered violence and deeply steeped in an exploration of poetry. Incredible experimental writing.

· Time: The Present, Tess Slesinger. Selected stories from Slesinger writing from the 1930’s. There are a handful of extremely excellent stories in this collection but overall I was impressed with Slesinger’s exploration of gender relations, worker exploitation, and race politics through her modernist style.

· May We Be Forgiven, A.M. Homes. An enjoyable novel exploring our inner lives and asking how we manage to survive each day and the challenges that appear. Quite fun to watch the growth of the protagonist.

· This is Not a Novel, David Markson. A barrage of thoughts about the creative process, creative individuals, death, and including something that could be called a storyline. First in a trilogy. Looking forward to the next two.

· Cool For America, Andrew Martin. A short story collection with lots of writers, music, booze. and drugs. Some fun along the way but grows weary with repetition.

· Tartuffe and The Misanthrope, Molière, translated by Maya Slater. Very humorous drama pieces I read as part of research for the hypocrisy story I am currently writing.

· To Walk Alone in the Crowd, Antonio Muñoz Molina, translated by Guillermo Bleichmar. A nice look at solitude amongst other people. Mostly containing thoughts while walking through cities, it is a cool exploration of mindfulness while exploring the world around us.

· Oreo, Fran Ross. A great romp through seventies Philadelphia and New York while exploring race and family relations. Written in 1974 but still highly applicable.

· Show Don’t Tell, Curtis Sittenfeld. Short stories featuring middle-aged characters mining their pasts to understand their current situations.

· A Sensitive Person, Jachym Topol, translated by Alex Zucker. Always a pleasure to read another Topol novel from the Czech Republic. This one is a wild road novel beginning during an acting tour in Europe and then a return to Prague. Lots of absurd encounters with a cast of characters and explorations of current politics and other concerns.